"Rocky" Bleier

You are buying a beautifully matted autograph of “Rocky” Bleier ready for framing,

 he was a member of what the called " The Steel Curtain"

              The overall size is 9” x 20.5"

Robert "Rocky" Bleier (born March 5, 1946 in Appleton, Wisconsin) is a former National Football League fullback who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968 and from 1971 to 1980. He was nicknamed "Rocky" as a baby. Bleier said "As the first born of the family, my dad was proud, as all parents are." And the guys would come into the bar and say ‘Bob how's that new kid of yours?' And my dad would go 'Aw, you should see him, guys, looks like a little rock sitting in that crib. He's got all these muscles.' I'm a little fat baby. So they'd come back in the bar and they'd say 'Hey Bob, how's that little rock of yours?' So after that, that's how I got it. It stuck."  After his 1968 rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bleier was drafted into the U.S. Army in December 1968. He shipped out to Vietnam in May 1969 and served with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. On August 20, 1969, while on patrol in Heip Duc, Bleier was wounded in the left thigh when his platoon was ambushed in a rice paddy. While down on the ground, an enemy grenade landed nearby, and sending shrapnel into his right leg. He was later awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

While recovering in a hospital in Tokyo, doctors told him that he would not play football again. Soon after, he received a postcard from Steelers owner Art Rooney which just read "Rock - the team's not doing well. We need you. Art Rooney". Bleier later said "When you have somebody take the time and interest to send you a postcard, something that they One year after being wounded, Bleier reported to Steelers training camp. Upon his return, he couldn't walk without being in pain, and weighed only 180 pounds (82 kg). He spent two full years trying to regain a spot on the active roster, and was even waived on two occasions. But Bleier never gave up, and said that he worked hard so that "some time in the future you didn't have to ask yourself 'what if?'". An off-season training regimen brought Bleier back to 212 pounds in the summer of 1974. From that point in time, he would be in the Steelers' starting lineup. Since Preston Pearson was wearing number 26 (the number Bleier wore his rookie season before he went to Vietnam), Bleier switched to number 20 when he returned to the team from Vietnam. After Pearson was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in 1975, however, Bleier kept the number 20, which by this point he was more recognized with. In addition to being a great lead blocker, Bleier was the second of the Steelers' rushing weapons (Franco Harris was the primary back), but was effective nonetheless at both blocking and rushing. In 1976, both Harris and Bleier rushed for over 1,000 yards. Bleier played in the first four Steeler Super Bowl victories, and caught the touchdown pass from Terry Bradshaw that gave Pittsburgh a lead it would never surrender in Super Bowl XIII. Bleier retired after the 1980 season with 3,865 rushing yards, 136 receptions for 1,294 yards, and 25 touchdowns. At the time of his retirement, he was the Steelers fourth all-time leading didn't have to do, you have a special place for those kind of people".

Guaranteed 100% Original Autograph

 This is an in person autograph with a

Certificate of Authenticity Included

I have been appraising autographs

 and artwork for over 45 years All my autographs are 100% Guaranteed Original,or money back 

Trusted Seller since 2000 Buy with Confidence

About Me:

I have been collecting autographs for over 45 years. I owned an Art & Collectibles Gallery in Rancho Mirage Ca for over 25 years, over those years. I have collected and also appraised art and authenticated many signatures and artwork from Monet to Picasso, Red Skelton and many more including Elvis. I framed art for the likes of Red Skelton, President Gerald Ford (Ford for over 15 years) and President Bill Clinton as well as Lucille Ball, Loretta Young, Ginger Rogers, George Montgomery, Dinah Shore and Walter Annenberg, Bob Kane (Batman Artist), Baseball Hall of Fame, Graeme Baxter “World Famous Golf Artist” and many more. I have also framed a Babe Ruth Display that was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I have another customer that I have framed memorabilia that was on the moon as well as a set of pens and quills that go back as far as President Washington. I met many of these people in person and received autographs from many of them as well. I have autographs of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and about 300 others. I bought Elvis and Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix and others from an estate sale in Germany many, many years ago from a massive collection that was sold off, I wish I could have afforded more of them. This was about 40 years ago, back when there was not as much paperwork on collectibles. I paid good money for these and know they are original autographs. I have even sent some of my autographs that I have seen signed in person out to professional authenticators. They claim to be experts and I found that they were often wrong telling me that some of the autographs I sent them, even though I stood there when they signed them were not to be authentic. Beware of some of the authenticators out there. The reason I am selling my collection is that this was always going to be my retirement business, giving me something to do in retirement. I hope this might answer any questions you might have about me.

Howard

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